Pregnant women with A/H1N1 flu face higher risk

BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhuanet) -- A study suggests pregnant women face higher risk if they have pandemic H1N1 flu, according to the British Medical Journal.

Research said pregnant women in Australia and New Zealand who had swine flu were 13 times more likely to be admitted to hospital with a critical illness if they were more than 20 weeks pregnant, as media said quoting the study on Friday.

From June 1 to Aug. 31 last year, 209 women of child-bearing age were admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) in Australia and New Zealand with confirmed swine flu, 64 of whom were either pregnant or had recently given birth.

The research found seven mothers (11 percent) and seven babies (12 percent) died after being admitted to intensive care with swine flu. Specially, none of the women in the study had been immunised against seasonal flu.

"Although a mortality of 11 percent seems low when compared to usual outcomes of respiratory failure in intensive care ... a maternal mortality of 11 percent is high when compared with any other obstetric condition," Ian Seppelt wrote in the study.

The findings confirm earlier research that pregnant women are at higher risk of serious complications if they get the A/H1N1 flu.